JP7356753B2 - Steering gear and robot - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure belongs to the field of robot accessories technology. Especially regarding steering gears and robots.

A steering gear is a power source that controls the motion of remote control models, humanoid robots, etc., and is also an important motion execution device that drives the movements of the robot's joints. How to apply the steering gear to smaller spaces and improve its applicability is an important research and development topic for those skilled in the art.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a steering gear is provided. This steering gear includes a steering gear body, an upper cover fixedly connected to the top of the steering gear body, a lower cover fixedly connected to the bottom of the steering gear body, and a structure provided between the steering gear body and the upper cover. a DC motor, a motor gear and a gear train, the steering gear including a first part and a second part protruding from the first part, and the gear train comprising: a DC motor, a motor gear and a gear train; including an output gear located in the second portion.

In some embodiments, the gear train further includes a primary gear, a secondary gear, a tertiary gear, a quaternary gear, and a transition gear that are transmission connected in sequence, wherein the motor gear is connected to the primary gear. The output gear meshes with the transition gear.

In some embodiments, the motor gear, primary gear, secondary gear, tertiary gear, quaternary gear, transition gear, and output gear are arranged in a W-shape.

In some embodiments, the top lid is perforated in the second portion. The steering gear further includes an insertion steering gear that is coaxially connected to the output gear and protrudes from the round hole.

In some embodiments, a copper ring is installed between the output gear and the insert steering gear.

In some embodiments, the steering gear body has an open cavity, and the bottom of the cavity is hollow.

In some embodiments, the steering gear further includes a printed circuit board and a potentiometer provided between the steering gear body and the lower lid.

In some embodiments, the steering gear further includes electrical wires welded to the printed circuit board.

In some embodiments, the steering gear further includes a printed circuit board and a potentiometer that are provided between the steering gear body and the lower lid, and the potentiometer and the transition gear are coaxially installed and tightened. inserted.

In some embodiments, the steering gear body, the upper cover, and the lower cover are all case structural members, and the edge of the steering gear body and the edge of the upper cover are provided with first grooves for positionally regulating each other. A position regulating structure is provided, and a second position regulating structure for mutually regulating the positions is provided at the edge of the steering gear main body and the edge of the lower cover.

In some embodiments, the first position regulating structure and the second position regulating structure include a position regulating groove and a position regulating protrusion.

In some embodiments, the wall thickness of the steering gear body, top cover, and bottom cover ranges from 0.8 mm to 2.5 mm.

In some embodiments, the material of the steering gear body, upper cover and lower cover is selected to be nylon 66 + 30% glass fiber.

In some embodiments, the upper cover and the steering gear body are fixedly connected by screws, and the lower cover and the steering gear body are fixedly connected by screws.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a robot including the steering gear of the embodiment described above is provided.

1 is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional structure of a steering gear according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exploded structure of a steering gear according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of a steering gear according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.

The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the disclosure, applications, or uses. Below, embodiments for carrying out the invention of the steering gear of the present disclosure will be further described in connection with the drawings attached to the specification.

A steering gear is mainly composed of a circuit board, a motor, a reduction gear train, a sensor, a control circuit, and the like. The operating principle of the steering gear is outlined as follows, the main control panel of the robot sends control signals to the steering gear, and the one-chip microcomputer on the circuit board of the steering gear transmits the following signals: Along with carrying out the corresponding processing, determining the direction of rotation and driving a motor, for example a DC brush motor, to start the rotation, the motor transmits the power to the output gear by a reduction gear train, and at the same time determines the position. The detection sensor detects the rotation angle of the output gear and sends the detection signal to the one-chip microcomputer, and the one-chip microcomputer detects when the rotation of the output gear has reached a predetermined position based on the detection signal of the position detection sensor. Determine whether or not.

As recognized by the inventors of the present disclosure, some steering gears in the related art need to occupy relatively more space inside the robot, so that humanoid robots of the "thin arm" type and small arm It cannot be applied to robots with

In view of this, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a steering gear and a robot that can effectively alleviate or eliminate the above defects.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional structure of a steering gear according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, and FIG. 2 is an exploded structure of this steering gear. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of this steering gear.

The steering gear according to the embodiment of the present disclosure includes a steering gear main body 1, an upper cover 2 fixedly connected to the top of the steering gear main body 1, a lower cover 3 fixedly connected to the bottom of the steering gear main body 1, and a rudder. The steering gear includes a DC motor 13, a motor gear 20, and a gear train, which are provided between the steering gear main body 1 and the upper lid 2 and are sequentially connected for transmission. The gear train includes an output gear 19A located in the second portion.

This steering gear has an overall shape of the Chinese character "convex", and the second part thereof is narrower than the first part, for example, due to the width change design of the first part and the second part. , it can be better applied to narrow spaces, and can be used, for example, in "thin arm" type humanoid robots and robots with small arms, so it has a relatively wide range of application.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the steering gear body 1, the upper cover 2 and the lower cover 3 may all be case structural members, and may be molded using a plastic injection process. A first position regulating structure is provided at the edge of the steering gear main body 1 and the edge of the upper cover 2 for mutually regulating the positions, and the edge of the steering gear main body 1 and the edge of the lower cover 3 are provided with a second position regulating structure for mutually regulating their positions. The first position regulating structure and the second position regulating structure each include, for example, a position regulating groove and a position regulating protrusion. The design of the first position restriction structure and the second position restriction structure not only facilitates the assembly between the case structural members, but also makes the fit between the case structural members more accurate.

In some embodiments, the wall thickness of the steering gear body 1, the upper cover 2 and the lower cover 3 ranges from 0.8 mm to 2.5 mm, and the material is at least one of polyamide and glass fiber. May contain one. In some embodiments, the thickness of the steering gear body 1, the upper cover 2, and the lower cover 3 are all designed to be 1.5 mm, and the steering gear body 1, the upper cover 2, and the lower cover 3 are all designed to have a thickness of 1.5 mm. Use nylon 66 + 30% glass fiber.

In some embodiments, the upper cover 2 and the steering gear body 1 are fixedly connected by screws, and the lower cover 3 and the steering gear body 1 are fixedly connected by screws 4. Thereby, the steering gear main body 1, the upper cover 2, and the lower cover 3 are fixedly connected together and can be easily attached and detached. In one embodiment, screw holes are formed in both the upper cover 2 and the lower cover 3, and a plurality of screws 4 pass through the screw holes to connect the upper cover 2, the steering gear main body 1, and the lower cover 3. Connect together. Among the multiple screws 4, there is a gap of 2.6 mm between the upper and lower screws near the DC motor 13, making it possible to increase the torque and output, and also to facilitate the replacement of the coreless motor. You can secure space for

As shown in FIG. 3, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the gear train includes a primary gear 14, a secondary gear 15, a tertiary gear 16, and a quaternary gear that are sequentially transmission-connected to transmit power. It further includes a gear 17 and a transition gear 19, where the motor gear 20 meshes with the primary gear 14 and the output gear 19A meshes with the transition gear 19. Iron may be selected as the material for the primary gear 14, secondary gear 15, tertiary gear 16, and quaternary gear 17, and aluminum alloy may be selected as the material for the transition gear 19 and the output gear 19A.

A transition gear 19 is installed between the quaternary gear 17 and the output gear 19A, and the output gear 19A is easier to arrange at one relatively narrow end of the steering gear having a "convex" shape, thereby reducing the outer shape of the steering gear. is easier to apply to narrow spaces. Furthermore, by detecting the rotation angle of the transition gear 19, the rotation status of the output gear 19A can be indirectly determined.

In some embodiments, the center lines of the motor gear 20, the primary gear 14, the secondary gear 15, the tertiary gear 16, the quaternary gear 17, the transition gear 19, and the output gear 19A have a substantially polygonal shape, for example, a substantially W shape. It has a character shape. Such a layout makes the structure of the gear train more compact and the structure of the entire steering gear smaller, so that the space occupied inside the robot can be saved.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in some embodiments, the top cover 2 has a round hole 21 in the second part, and the steering gear is coaxially connected to the output gear 19A. , further including an insertion steering gear 11 protruding from the round hole 21. In this embodiment, a copper ring 18 is installed between the output gear 19A and the inserted steering gear 11.

In some embodiments, the structure of the gear train is such that the motor gear 20 meshes with the primary gear 14 , a primary pinion is further attached to the rotating shaft of the primary gear 14 , and the primary pinion is connected to the primary gear 14 . It is located above and is connected coaxially with the primary gear 14, the primary pinion meshes with the secondary gear 15, and the secondary pinion is further fitted on the rotating shaft of the secondary gear 15. The pinion is located below the secondary gear 15 and is fixedly connected coaxially with the secondary gear 15, the secondary pinion meshes with the tertiary gear 16, and the tertiary pinion is further fitted onto the rotating shaft of the tertiary gear 16. This tertiary pinion is located below the tertiary gear 16 and is connected coaxially with the tertiary gear 16, and the tertiary pinion meshes with the 4th gear 17. A secondary pinion is further fitted, a 4th pinion is located below the 4th gear 17 and is fixedly connected coaxially with the 4th gear 17, the 4th pinion meshes with the transition gear 19, and finally the transition gear 19 is designed to mesh with the gear of the output gear 19A. The output end of the output shaft of the output gear 19A passes through the upper lid 2 and is exposed to the outside of the upper lid 2.

In some embodiments, each gear in the gear train is provided with a gear shaft of a different diameter, where the primary gear shaft has a diameter of 1.2 mm and the secondary gear shaft has a diameter of 1.2 mm. .2 mm, the diameter of the tertiary gear shaft is 1.5 mm, and the diameter of the fourth gear shaft is 1.5 mm. The diameter of the output shaft of the DC motor is 1 mm, and the diameter of the output gear shaft is 6.0 mm, and the inventor of the present disclosure selected the above gear train and the gear shaft of the corresponding diameter through numerous tests. It has been found that by minimizing the wheel base of the reduction section of each stage, the occupied space can be saved to the maximum extent and the volume of the entire steering gear can be minimized.

As shown in FIG. 2, in some embodiments, the steering gear body 1 has an open cavity, and the bottom of the cavity is hollow, making the layout of the gears in each stage more compact. Not only that, but the weight of the entire steering gear can also be reduced.

As shown in FIG. 2, in some embodiments, the steering gear includes a printed circuit board 31 (PCB) and a potentiometer 32 provided between the steering gear body 1 and the lower cover 3. Including further.

The PCB 31 is welded to the electric wire and outputs or inputs signals through the electric wire, and compared to the insertion method, the use of terminals can be avoided, thereby saving the occupied space as much as possible. The steering gear can communicate using a serial bus that includes three cascaded wires, reducing the total number of wires in the robot compared to conventional PWM circuits. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the thickness of the PCB 31 may be designed to be 1 mm, thus it can be applied to motors with larger currents.

Potentiometer 32 may be used to detect the rotation angle of transition gear 19. Based on the detected value of the rotation angle of the transition gear 19, the positional situation of the output gear 19A can be indirectly determined. The potentiometer 32 can support the small arm of the robot to rotate 360° continuously by using a micropotentiometer. The potentiometer 32 and the transition gear 19 are installed coaxially and are tightly fitted together. In some embodiments, the micropotentiometer is inserted into transition gear 19 with an interference fit. Since the lower end of the transition gear 19 is inserted into the micropotentiometer with an interference fit, the structural member at the lower end of the transition gear 19 should be designed in a shape with some elasticity. A shaft joint may be provided at the lower end of the transition gear 19, with which the micropotentiometer is an interference fit. A D-shaped boss may be provided at the lower stage of the shaft joint, thus making it possible to reduce the pumping force on the micropotentiometer. Transition gear 19 may be made of aluminum alloy. Due to the relatively small diameter of the shaft joint, a harder metal material, such as 304 stainless steel, may be used. A stainless steel shaft joint can be pressed into the lower end of the transition gear 19 of aluminum alloy material by a press machine.

In some embodiments, potentiometer 32 is a potentiometer that rotates 360 degrees continuously and has an electrical range of 280 degrees, and includes a D-shaped potentiometer that has a diameter of 1.6 mm and a depth of 5 mm. holes are drilled. The D-shaped boss of the shaft joint has a diameter of 1.6 mm and a length of 2 mm. The shaft joint is machined and formed using 304 stainless steel.

A steering gear according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be assembled manually, and the assembly flow may be as follows:
Assemble the gear train and DC motor 13 in the cavity of the steering gear main body 1,
After completing the fitting of the DC motor 13, the PCB 31, and the potentiometer 32, for example, after electrically connecting the PCB 31 and the potentiometer 32, place it in the lower cover 3, and electrically connect the DC motor 13 to the PCB 31.
The upper cover 2 and the lower cover 3 are respectively snap-engaged with the steering gear main body 1, and the inserted steering gear 11 is passed through the round hole 21 in the upper cover 2.
This involves completing the assembly of the entire steering gear by fixing the upper cover 2, the steering gear body 1 and the lower cover 3 together with a plurality of screws 4.

An electric screwdriver may be used when assembling, and the specifications of the screw 4 are, for example, M2×10, and grease can be added to the gear train when assembling.

In some embodiments, the wiring method of the steering gear is to weld an electric wire (for example, a lead wire) to the PCB 31 in the lower cover 3, and connect the potentiometer 32 fixed to the PCB 31 and the transition gear 19 using a shaft joint. , the electric wire is pulled out from the through hole 33 made in the lower cover 3.

In the steering gear using the above wiring method, a part of the electric wire may be hidden between the PCB 31 and the lower cover 3. It can avoid exposing a lot of wire rods and make the outer shape of the steering gear more beautiful, while also protecting the wire rods, extending the service life of the wire rods, and improving the stability of the steering gear performance.

Embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a robot including the steering gear according to any one of the embodiments. In some embodiments, the robot includes a left steering gear and a right steering gear that are arranged symmetrically on a "skinny arm" type humanoid robot, which have a small structure and are connected to the articulated parts. can reduce the gap between.

As one skilled in the art can easily understand, the technical solution of the present disclosure may include any combination of the parts herein. Due to limited space and to simplify the manual, these combinations are not explained in detail here, but after reading this specification, you will be able to understand which of the parts constituted by this specification. It is obvious that the scope of the present disclosure is comprised of combinations of the following.

Claims (13)

The steering gear includes a steering gear body (1), an upper cover (2) fixedly connected to the top of the steering gear body (1), and a lower cover fixedly connected to the bottom of the steering gear body (1). (3), and includes a DC motor (13), a motor gear (20), and a gear train provided between the steering gear body (1) and the upper cover (2) and sequentially connected for transmission, where:
The steering gear includes a first portion and a second portion that protrudes from the first portion and is narrower than the first portion , and the gear train includes an output gear (19A) located in the second portion. including, along the axis of the output gear (19A), the top surface of the second portion is spaced apart from the top surface of the first portion, and the bottom surface of the second portion is spaced apart from the bottom surface of the first portion. Ori,
The gear train further includes a primary gear (14), a secondary gear (15), a tertiary gear (16), a quartic gear (17), and a transition gear (19), which are connected for transmission in sequence. , where the motor gear (20) meshes with the primary gear (14), the output gear (19A) meshes with the transition gear (19),
The motor gear (20), primary gear (14), secondary gear (15), tertiary gear (16), 4th gear (17), transition gear (19), and output gear (19A) are arranged in a W-shape. The steering gear is located . The upper lid (2) has a round hole (21) in the second part,
The steering gear according to claim 1, wherein the steering gear further includes an insertion steering gear (11) that is coaxially connected to the output gear (19A) and projects from the round hole (21). Steering gear according to claim 2 , characterized in that a copper ring (18) is installed between the output gear (19A) and the inserted steering gear (11). The steering gear according to claim 1, wherein the steering gear body (1) has an open cavity, and the bottom of the cavity is hollow. The steering gear according to claim 1, further comprising a printed circuit board (31) and a potentiometer (32) provided between the steering gear body (1) and the lower cover (3). Steering gear according to claim 5 , further comprising electrical wires welded to the printed circuit board (31). The steering gear further includes a printed circuit board (31) and a potentiometer (32) provided between the steering gear body (1) and the lower cover (3),
The steering gear according to claim 1 , wherein the potentiometer (32) and the transition gear (19) are coaxially installed and interlocked. The steering gear body (1), upper cover (2), and lower cover (3) are all case structural members, and the edges of the steering gear body (1) and the edge of the upper cover (2) are mutually connected. A first position regulation structure for position regulation is provided, and a second position regulation structure for mutual position regulation is provided at the edge of the steering gear body (1) and the edge of the lower cover (3). A steering gear according to claim 1, wherein a structure is provided. The steering gear according to claim 8 , wherein the first position regulating structure and the second position regulating structure include a position regulating groove and a position regulating protrusion. The steering gear according to claim 8 , wherein the steering gear body (1), the upper cover (2) and the lower cover (3) have wall thicknesses ranging from 0.8 mm to 2.5 mm. The steering gear according to claim 1, wherein the material of the steering gear body (1), the upper cover (2) and the lower cover (3) is selected from nylon 66+30% glass fiber. Claims 1 to 1 1 The upper cover (2) and the steering gear main body (1) are fixedly connected by screws, and the lower cover (3) and the steering gear main body (1) are fixedly connected by screws . The steering gear according to any one of the above. Being a robot,
A robot comprising the steering gear according to any one of claims 1 to 12 .